Japanese want snowball fighting in Winter Olympics

There are seven players to a team. Play is held on a field roughly a third the size of a football pitch with a flag near either end and low walls where players can take cover. Each team gets 90 snowballs per set, which lasts three minutes.

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Winning a set is achieved by capturing the opposing team’s flag or hitting all its players with snowballs. The first team to win two sets wins the match.

Since 180 flying snowballs must be monitored, eight referees are required for each match.

Yukigassen events have been taking place in Sobetsu since 1989. The community had thrived on tourists drawn to its hot springs, but when Mount Usu, the local volcano, erupted in 1977, that trade began to decline. Snowball fights were seen as a way to revive the community, and “Showa-Shinzan” refers to a nearby volcanic lava dome.

In 2013, enthusiasts set up the International Alliance of sports Yukigassen to improve the level of competition and spread the game around the world.

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Organised snowball fights are now held in 13 countries, and promoters hope to persuade the International Olympic Committee to make it part of the Winter Games.

To increase the number of players internationally, organisers have also developed a version of the game that can be played with balls, either indoors or on beaches, year-round.

“It’s a primitive sport, almost instinctive for human beings,” Yuji Ano, president of the tournament’s organising committee, told AFP.

“Our ancestors were surely doing the same thing. It’s the oldest winter sport in human history; long before skating or skiing, humans were already throwing snowballs at each other. That’s its biggest appeal.”

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